foreign fever

no words to describe,.this movie is simply amazing and devastating at the same time. one of my all time best !

the review didn't lie.IT IS a fairytale for grownups

a pinnacle of asian cinema in my opinion. a legendary tale of good vs bad and the morality surrounding it. and this movie makes me regarded tony leung as one of the best actor in the world

the greatest indonesian movies to date,.very different and so lynch-ian.Joko Anwar is really the future of indonesian film industry.

and the last 20 minutes? mind blowing!

meirelles give a truthful account of brazilian slum life,and add it with some delightful style

visually stunning and narratively breathtaking at the same time, this is THE GODFATHER of vampire movies

enchanting,colorful,unconventional,and darkly twisted.a must see romance !

gaaaaaaaaaak adaaaaaaaa yg ngalahiin. paraaaah seremnya!

although the story is a little generic and cliche (about a man who find redemption when he is back into his hometown) ,but this is generic and cliche with a heart.,beautiful..

simply powerful ! especially that last line,really gave me chills and tears..

it seems that every foreign language film that i watched is either great, or brilliant.this one is no exception.all the actor's performance and (sussane)bier delicate directing is awesome

damn ! it looks like my soft spot for foreign film is getting bigger and bigger,.
The Chorus (Les Choristes) proves once again that you don't need big hollywood budget and effect to create brilliance..this is just another wonderful movie from french, full of inspiration and beauty, a drama and a little bit of comedy and tragedy for everyone

part kill bill,part leon:the professional,.A BITTERSWEET LIFE is another greatness from kim jee woon,.now official to becoming one of my favorite director.he really can turn a well established genre (horror with A TALE OF TWO SISTERS,and now gangster),into something entirely different and highly poetic.a must see,and definitely better than OLDBOY in my opinion

JSA is a perfect examples of how didn't meet the expectation doesn't always comes as a bad thing.judging by the poster and the trailer,i expect this to be a great political war thriller brought by Park chan-wook,the master of that kind of movie.the fact is,this is not a thriller(althought there are some thrilling moments).what JSA truly are is a wonderful story of friendship and pain of guilt.brillilant!

if there's one word to summarize this movie,well,maybe it is : BEAUTIFUL.this movie use all elements of beauty all over the screen.from the titular main character,which is a beautiful woman, a beautiful cinematography, a beautiful opera-like score, and a beautiful story (for a standard of revenge movie,of course)

how stupid i am,.calling this piece of pure art and entertainment overrated ! i didn't know what's got into me the first time around.,maybe i'm not in the right mood.,or maybe its my prejudice against korean film.or maybe,i'm just too young to understand it.well,that's not important now,.the thing is, now,.from the story into the visual perspective,this is a winner.whoa.

The Chaser kick ass!! after i'm enduring myself for so long with cheesy thriller from hollywood,the koreans save the day again! (at least for me). this is just,well,i;m not saying it is unpredictable,but when i watch this,there are times when i think "shit,this is just so not thriller-for-dummies by the book cliche hollywood often offers".i enjoy a movie where i had no idea what's gonna happen next,and this is one of it.if there's one letdown,it is the finale confrontation of the goodie and the baddie,which is the only cliche part in this movie,but fortunatelyl,the director take the step again with the final shot,which is sort of sad and leaves many intrepetation.surely the best thriller i've ever seen in years!

since it is a bertolucci movie,it is no doubt has a beautiful cinematography.but what i like the most from THE CONFORMIST is not the beauty itself,but more of its unstructured narrative,which is a rarity on those days.this is a film that demand a second viewing.,and for good sake.,the script didn't give a simple A to B narrative.in fact,the movie rather very confused to watch,especially in the first hour.but,like trying to solve a puzzle,when the piece is done,then all its left is a feeling of satisfaction.,truly bertolucci masterpiece!

if i am an academy voter,i will try my best to make this become one of the nominee of 2010 oscar for best foreign film. that statement just tells just how brilliant this movie is. This is comes as no surprise,as it comes from Boong Joon-ho (alongside Park Chan-wook and Kim Jee-won,the three lions of korea).

from the tone of the film,it is not much diferrent than his Memories of Murder.But if when i watching MoM the feeling is just like watching a Fincher's movie,well,in Mother,it is just refreshing.only by reading the premise,we know we're into something entirely different.A mother trying to solve a murder mystery to help his son getting away from jail?i'm in.

The highlight of Mother is,of course,the titular character herself,played mesmerizingly good by Kim Hye-ja (i also wanna take my money on her for best actress of 2010,by a long shot). Her elegant dancing in the beginning and ending of the film through some beautiful tango-ish music, is just enough to convince me to adore her character,no matter what act she did in the movie

poignant.very very poignant..probably the closest CATCHER IN THE RYE adaptation i could get...

and my big question raise: how come Masaki Kobayashi become the lesser known japanese director,overshadowed by Kurosawa? only by seeing this truly epic masterpiece,i already fall in love with his great cinematography skills,and brilliant storytelling. Though i never get the idea of Harakiri itself,but i got to admit,this is a true timeless classic epic story.and that last finale?whoa.now i know where Tarantino Kill Bill The bride vs Crazy 88 inspiration comes from..

what else do i need to say about this Kar-Wai (another) classic?? the image is as beautiful as a painting could be. The words spoken is as delicate as a poetry,.the music is as harrowing as an orchestra. This is pure art in its highest form...

Masterpiece ! Simply put,one of the best film of this decade. The power of this film is, the beautiful black and white cinematography,the great and effective use of music,and the performance of Lars Rudolph as the main character,Janos. Just by seeing his eyes,i could feels the emotion that his character endured.The exhaustion,the fear,the awe (the scene when he admired the great whale in the trailer,is just wonderful)..

don't mind my "only" 4.5 rating (which is lower than my 5 star of Chungking Express and In the mood For Love). I do believe this is Wong Kar-wai most accomplished film to date.,exquisitely beautiful image (as always,i could just play this movie over and over again in the wall,instead of putting some painting),.gorgeous soundtrack,and,unlike the straightforward Chungking and In the Mood,this is very layered. Believe me,this is the very first Kar-wai film that i could feel,i'm gonna get something new every time i watch it

Update : and yes it is. it is 5 now

at last,a haneke film that i could endure (and what a masterpiece it is,an extraordinary crafted tale).There are two things that makes this film stands out from other haneke's film. The first is the narrative. by telling the story from the first person perspective (in this case,the teacher of the village),the film never loses its grip. the story,flows perfectly. The second is its beautiful black and white cinematography and beautiful landscape.unlike any other haneke film,which is,just so simple and boring (image-wise),but in white ribbon,well,you could capture any image of the film,send it to a photography competition,and you could win from it.it's THAT beautiful. as the story itself.no need to say,this is as good as any other of his story.The difference is,this time he captures it on screen perfectly!

very astonishing. this is a rare experience Sokurov has given,an exhilarating journey of Russian history through one single unedited 96 minutes.,my awe of this technical superiority exceeds it lacks of narrative,that could produces some sort of ultimate boredom.,damn brilliant !

when i thought this is just another boarding school film..,well,this is waayy beyond that..very different, refreshing, and quite unsettling,INNOCENCE is an eerie and luscious form of art from Lucile Hadzihalilovic.,with many simbolic metaphors and beautiful green-ish cinematography (just look at the poster!),.and the film also has its moments of tension and mystery.with a resolution that cannot be described easily,probably the best fairy tale about young women i've ever seen,only second to Pan's labyrinth

imagine the shawshank redemption meet city of god.well the result would be more or less like this,a completely raw and brutal film about life in prison !
and Tahar Rahim,well,speaking of the glorious work of fate,the fact that he got the role of malik el djebena after sharing a taxi with Jaqcues Audiard,the director,is wondrous. his performance is so compelling , that i did not afraid to compare it with Al Pacino performances in Godfather. his character is evolving along the film. At first we just see him new in prison,just trying to survive.but as the 2 hours and 28 minutes progress, he get tougher and wiser,and everytime he is onscreen,he own it. definitely my favorite film of 2009.

stunning from the beginning (as we see the the bunch of people hiking the wondrous mountain landscape) to the very end..Klaus Kinski performance as Aguirre also breathtaking !

i can see now, why jean renoir (and this film,in particular) is considered as one of the best of all time..with his usual delicious mise-en-scene and wonderful black humour,makes this as another classic in my eyes !

if there's one thing certain, is that Ozu has created one of the best family drama ever. This minimalistic un-soap-ish approach of 2 aging couples handling with their family hits all the emotional spot. The last shot is sad,yet brimming with full optimism !

whoa. i just witness the greatest film ever made

a different breed of serial crime motion picture,.and i tell you what,.this is on par, if not better, with such newer serial killer drama such as Silence Of The Lambs, Se7en, or Memories Of Murder.

Things that i like the most from this film is how Imamura depicted the character of Iwao Enokizu, a serial killer that has killed 6 peoples and on the run,.instead of showing the psychological aspect of him, Imamura looks like just trying to tell that this man is born that way,his character is given. a monster unleashed in this flawed world .reminds me a lot with the Joker in the The Dark Knight ( The character, not the acting).

The story structure also very effective, that even in the long 140 minutes, the film didn't feel too long. The flashback played very wonderfully and nicely fit.

So overall,i was in complete surprise with this Imamura masterpiece. This is a brilliant, and a little bit,overlooked crime/serial killer film.,highly recommended !

still can't decide with the ending,.but still, regardless the story, the masterful direction gives this film another credit of its own.,such a quiet and restrained handling by Dreyer ! Loves every seconds of it !

this documentary about the conflict that happens in algeria between...emm,.what? This is not a documentary? well, my mistake then,.but blame Gillo Pontecorvo for making this film very carefully and add it with a masterful camera work and attention to detail,.that makes me thinking that i'm in the Algeria there, just transported from my bedroom. Harrowing

Who could have makes a plot about peek-a-panty, cult religion, transgender, psychopath, and christianity, cramped into an almost 4 hours film, didn?t get any ridicoulous ? Sion Sono could. Love Exposure is just groundbreaking in any way possible. shit, this is the fastest 4 hours of my life in such a long time. The pace is never get slow, the story always have a quick turn. And while i understand that this film is not for everyone ( Panties everywhere, extreme violent, controversial religious theme arc), but i just feels the urge that, EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THIS FILM. trust me, it?s a unique experience. With a feeling of surrealism of manga-like world,.effective use of music, and a mind-blowing and horrifying scene ( There?s a scene that just make Antichrist looks like a donald duck movie), this is, in my opinion, one of the best Japanese, heck, one of the best film that i?ve ever seen !

in the hand of ,said, Lars Von Trier, Memories of Matsuko could turns out to be a very very depressing drama a la Dancer In The Dark. The story is somewhat tragic, with bad luck happens all the time to the titular character, Matsuko. But instead of going all sappy "life is a bitch" mode, direcotr Tetsuya nakashima turns this into a highly stylized charming little movie, and spread "fun" everywhere around the corner.very recommended, especially for those who love colorful, quirky movies like Amelie

At this rate, Cure could possibly became my favorite serial killer film of all-time, thanks to its mind-twisting storyline, chilling atmosphere (with great help from the effective use of sound, ranging from an ambient of electronic device to utterly disturbing wind ). And though a murder mystery, this film also feels like first class horror at times ( back to the atmosphere part there ). The tension is slowly build, into some unflinching and uncompromising last shot !

Fish Story is to Armageddon what Signs is to Independence Day, loooking at the story from a different point of view. Only everything that goes in Fish Story is pretty out-of-the-box (though quite predictable. but still, this is a very refreshing film ).

The plot is about some impending apocalypse, in which a comet sized about 5 kilometers in diameter is about to hit the earth in 5 hours. instead of telling the story of some bunch of person that goes to the space and detonate the comet (viva armageddon !! ), the film goes along the way and try to tell of, how could a troubled 70's Japanese song, entitled "Fish Story", save the world from the apocalypse.

The mystery is part of the fun. throughout, the films goes back and forth the 70's (in which the band created the song ), the 80's, the 90's, the 2009, and finally 2012, in which the film takes place.

while. like i said before, its is not fully unpredictable ( to be completely honest, i already can thread all the piece right at the two third at the film ), but i appreciate the films for the super-innovative narrative concept.It looks if Tarantino, instead of making Jackie brown, make this film instead. and a little bit of horror and action didn't hurt, either.

So overall, this is one of the most refreshing film i've seen in a long time, and might get into my 2009 top 10 ( yes, it's that good ).

about one month ago ,a friend of mine once asked me," hey, Have you seen Come & See ?" i replied : "no, what is that ?"."what ?? you never heard of it ?? it's the best war movies. like, EVER !".

Since that defining conversation, i am so dying to see this film, which he said will makes Schindler's List feels like a telettubies movie. And after a somewhat fortunate event (fate, maybe), not long after, another friend of mine ( which,after watching it, gave the same opinion, that this is, the best war movie ever) just got a copy of it. and so i borrowed it.

And yep, the feeling i got after watching it is, more or less, the same. While it is too early to say that this is the Best war movie of all time, but it is definitely, one of the best. now a question raised, how come this film get overlooked by many when there's a conversation of this genre ?? This is, at least better than Platoon, or Saving Private Ryan. And would be a worthwhile companion for Schindler's List, for one-two emotional punch.

The biggest strength of this Klimov's masterpiece is, not the nature of violence depicted on screen. Unlike Spielberg's Schindler's List, in which violence are everywhere, and a girl with red dress had to get involved, to get the viewer's sympathy (and it worked for me), Come and See didn't need that. The gore are just suggested implicitly. but it worked just the same.

And don't forget the harrowing sound effect ( especially in the first half of the movies ). These fairly disturbing, yet highly effective sound, is just perfect ! by the time the Mozart piece played out near the end, the chilling sensation of the ugliness of war comes to its full effect. And Thanks to Aleksei Kravchenko's performance, the impact is, indeed, powerful.

a rarity has happen : i enjoyed this SLOW drama. Distant is just amazing to keep my eyes wide open, while the english title is translated "Distant", but the movie feels so close to my (if not ours) everyday life (awkward moments with some distant cousin, taking advantages of someone kindness, a long gaze of watching beautiful women, and still many that i can't mention all of it ).the sum is, every scene is worth watching for. The 'Porn scene' is definitely one of the funniest moment of cinema, and also the most truthful.LOL

it's true. a ghost story unlike any other...just plain sad, and beautiful...

My first Resnais, and it simply didn't disappoint. And now i kinda know where's Wong Kar-wai inspiration for In the Mood for Love comes from...